November 06, 2005

Hey There!

Thanks for the intro Sid.OK - before we get down to business, I'm new to blogging so I apologize now for the fat-finger errrors to come. Also, I'm a relatively new fan to junior hockey. I've watching carefully and lurking around a few discussion boards trying to learn more. One thing I have observed is, like art, the beauty of hockey is somewhat in the eye of the beholder so go ahead and disagree with me but I would really appreciate info from more knowledgeable folks to help me learn to enjoy this game even better.

So, on to today's game - another overtime win by our boys! In fact, the OT goal by Robbie was the only full-strength goal of the game. There were 5 power play goals and a beautiful short-handed goal. At times I thought the team played better short-handed than at full-strength.The starting line-up was Vojta, Joslin, Hulit, Bickell, Talbot and Battachio. Been reading all about the trade rumours and was surprized to see Bickell on the first line. Saw him play - or rather hang out on the ice on Friday. Starting line today. Things that make you go hmmmmm.The first period was a penalty parade - 5 penalies against the 67s (one resulting in a goal while McGinn was sitting in the slammer and other one scored while Kewin was cooling his heels) and 2 against the Hounds (where Lahey potted one with an assist from Pleckaitis.)Kyle Wharton, a former 67, got an assist on the first Soo goal. The 67s were lucky to get out of that period only down one goal. Score 2 - 1 for the visitors; shots on goal at the end of the first period - 8 - 16 for the Soo which makes sense since the 67s were spending much of their time keeping the dogs at bay.

Second period: It was the Hound's turn to parade into the penalty box - 5 times actually: 2 each for Chris Lawrence (9) and Cody Thornton (16). Lawrence's second offense resulted in a goal by Joslin with assists from Hulit and Talbot. Thornton's second penalty resulted from too much love on his part of our goalie. Thornton thought it would be nice to spend some quality time with Danny in the goal but in the process rammed our boy up against the pipes. Danny was down for a bit and came up stiff and seemed sore in his neck but was still up for the game. Period ended shortly after that. The period ended 2 -2 with shots on goal - 24 - 31 for the Hounds. Our only penalty was to Robbie Lawrance early in the period that was skillfully killed.

Third period: It didn't take long for the Soo to go ahead. Vojta ran afoul of the law before the first minute was played and less than a minute after that the Hounds got their go-ahead goal. Then our Shea Kewin got into more trouble with with a penalty for hooking with a 10 minute misconduct added for good measure. Seems he was talking when he should have been listening. No worry though. Our boys finally converted a face-off into some exciting action when Jamie McGinn takes it in and scores a beautiful short-handed goal with an assist from Talbot. Yay! We're tied! The period ends with shots on goal of 34 - 41 still for the Soo.

OT: I like our boys' chances in OT and it doesn't take them long to prove it. Let's see if I memory serves me correctly here (others please feel free to correct). Couture takes the puck into enemy territory, takes a shot but it misses (?), McGinn gets it, feeds it to Lawrance who's at the face-off circle to the right of the goalie and he puts it home for the game winner 40 seconds into the OT period. Yay! The fans go home happy; the Hounds face a long bus trip home in the rain. Final shots on goal 35 - 42 for the Hounds.

Three game stars:

3: Robbie Lawrance

2: Jamie McGinn

1: Tyler Kennedy (SSM)

Reported attendance: 8087 but I have to wonder how they count it up.

Thoughts about the game:I thought Brodie Beard did a good job on defence. I saw him clear numerous rebounds and generally get in the way of the opposition. Joslin seemed to be doing a good job on point in the opposition's end and Bickell was...well...Bickell. There were plenty of hits (and a deft hit-avoidance move by Lahey which left the Soo player with a self-inflicted injury when he threw himself at the boards). There were exciting near goals/misses (depends who you're cheering for), some fast end-to-end moments and great moves on both sides.

That's it for the SSM Greyhounds this year. We've played them twice and won both 4-3. That's also the finish of a home weekend where the boys won both in overtime. And that's it for my first blog. Feedback welcome.

1 comment:

It was great to see the 67s with a winning w/e, and both ending with OT goals was quite the dramatic touch.

Happy to see that the PP has started to come around. It was looking pretty bad for a while there.

Talbot continues to impress me. He's such a hard worker, with no dramatics. It's no surprise that Killer always has good things to say about him. Hulit seems to be 'off' his game somehow - not skating as fast, not the same sense of urgency we've seen from him. And Bickell ... yeah. He's got such potential, but it just doesn't come through on a consistent basis. It will be interesting to see what happens w/ the potential trade rumours.

Wharton looks like he's gotten bigger, stronger. He looks like a real team leader, and was on the ice constantly. Always like to see the guys do well even though they've moved on.

Here's the OHL game sheet: (link) (Man the OHL site takes forever to load now.)